Guttering



y 1, 1966 A. R. DAVIDSON 3,253,415

GUTTERING Filed June 26, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 A. R. DAVIDSON GUTTERING May 31, 1966 Filed June 26, 1965 May 31, 1966 A. R. DAVIDSON GUT'IERING 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 26, 1965 United States Patent 3,253,415 GUTTERING Alastair Ritchie Davidson, Sanderstead, England, assignor to A. B. Plastics Limited, St. Mary Cray, Orpington, Kent, England 7 Filed June 26, 1963, Ser. No. 290,658 Claims priority, application Great Britain, June 28, 1962, 24,924/ 62 j 1 Claim. (Cl. 6115) This invention concerns improvements relating to guttering and more specifically to brackets for supporting the same.

It is known to provide a slot in such a bracket for reception of an end of a length of gutter. The clearance between and hence the dimensions of the slot and gutter need to be held to fairly close tolerances to prevent leakage when merely a dry joint is made between them. The holding of such tolerances makes manufacture costly.

An object of the invention is to devise a construction allowing greater latitude in such tolerances and yet providing leak-free joints between bracket and gutter.

Accordingly the present invention provides a bracket device having a through-slot for reception of opposed ends of two lengths of gutter, wherein the slot is formed between a formation of trough section in a bracket portion of the device and a resilient liner of synthetic plastics material held in the bracket portion, the liner presenting to the slot a series of sealing ribs, the ribs being spaced in the through direction of the slot and each rib extending transversely of the said direction so that the ribs form a seal by contact with the inside of the said lengths of gutter when in position in the slot.

One or more stops may be arranged to limit entry of the gutter lengths into the slot.

A bracket device according to the invention, will now be described in more detail, by way of example, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURES 1 and 2 are end elevation and longitudinal section respectively of a bracket portion;

FIGURES 3 and 4 are corresponding enlarged fragmentary views of a liner, the fragments being displaced} and FIGURE 5 is a longitudinal section of the assembled bracket device, a gutter end being shown inserted in the left-hand end.

Referring to FIGURE 1, the bracket portion 10, which may be of synthetic plastics material, has a base 11 with a vertical face 12 for contact with an eaves board. The base 11 is formed with a countersunk bore 13 inclined to the vertical so that the point of a securing screw, conveniently a captive screw, in the bore 13 is directed up wardly into the eaves board.

An open-ended trough formation 14 of semi-circular section is supported by the base 11. The trough 14 extends beyond either side of the base 11 as can be seen in FIGURE 2. The semi-circular section mentioned corresponds with the outside of gutter lengths to be supported.

A resilient liner 15, shown in detail in FIGURES 3 and 4, of arcuate cross-section, is held with its outer curved surface 16 in spaced relation to the trough 14 as appears from FIGURE 5. A through-slot 17 having its through-direction extending longitudinally of the trough 14 is thereby defined. The s'ot 17 can accommodate opposed ends of two gutter lengths, one such end 18 being shown in position in FIGURE 5.

Each end of the trough 14 has a bevel 19 on the inside to facilitate entry of the gutter lengths into the throughslot 17.

3,253,415 Patented May 31, 1966 In this example, the liner 15 is held in the aforementioned spaced relation by a projection or toe 20 on the longitudinal edges of the liner 15. The extremity of the projection or toe 20 is accommodated in a recess 21 in the bracket portion and supported by a small rounded ledge 22 at the lower side of the recess 21. The upper side of the recess 21 is formed by a lip 23 with a downward extremity 24 which, together with the projection or toe 20, restrains the liner 15 from vertical movement.

Also, the liner 15 is held at either side at its top from relative longitudinal movement in the bracket portion 10, namely in the through-direction of the slot 17, by interengagement of a tongue 25 and a co-operating slot 26. The slot 26 in the present example is formed in the liner 15 and the tongue 25 in the bracket portion 10, but alternatively the slot could be on the bracket portion and the co-operating tongue in the liner. The tongue 25 is shown formed on the underside of the projection or toe 20 whereas the co-operating slot 26 is in the longitudinal edge of the liner 15.

The liner 15 has a thickened portion 27 at each end on the inside of which is a bevel 28. The bevels 28 reduce resistance to flow between adjacent gutter lengths when held by the bracket.

The outside of the liner 15 presents to the throughslot 17 a series of ribs 29, the series being spaced in the through-direction of the slot 17 and each rib 29 extending transversely to this direction. This series is disposed between the thickened portions 27. The ribs 29 effectively narrow the slot 17 locally to somewhat less than the wall thickness of the gutter ends. The liner 15 is made of polyethylene or other synthetic plastics materials such that the ribs 29 are resilient and form a seal by contact with the inside of the gutter ends in the manner indicated in FIGURE 5. It will be observed that the ribs 29 in the left hand group are deformed by contact with the gutter 18. Thus a dry joint can be made, that is to say without the aid of a cement.

The series conveniently consists of eight ribs 29. These are preferably arranged in two groups of four as shown, the spacing between the inside rib of each group exceeding the spacing between member ribs of each group, which latter spacing can be equal.

Between the two groups of ribs, two rib-like stops 30 are provided. The stops 3ft limit entry of gutter ends during insertion by hand in the slot 17 but yield readily to thermal expansion forces before the latter can cause damage or distortion of the guttering. The spacing between the stops 30 is adequate to allow for expansion of the gutter lengths with avoidance of abutting of the gutter ends, one on the other.

The construction described permits latitude in manufacuring tolerances to be maintained in the slot and the gutter ends and thus keeps manufacturing costs correspondingly down. Yet a leak-free joint between the slot and gutter ends can be made without the aid of a cement.

I claim: t

A bracket support for reception of opposed ends of two lengths of gutter, comprising an open-ended trough having projections along its upper edges, said projections extending towards each other, a trough-shaped resilient liner disposed in said trough with its upper edges located beneath said projections preventing said liner lifting out of said trough, said liner having a series of spaced sealing ribs projecting from its under side, each said sealing rib extending continuously between the upper edges of said liner, and at least one stop rib projecting from the under side of said liner a greater distance than said sealing ribs and located mid-way of said series of sealing ribs, and means on said liner and said trough forming a slot and a tongue in position to enter said slot and engage said slot forming means for holding said liner against move ment along said trough. 594,864 696,21 1 References Cited by the Examiner 5 841,369 UNITED STATES PATENTS 914,903 1,278,3 16 168,934 10/1875 Stearns 248-48.2 X

3,156,099 11/1964 Dailey 6l14 FOREIGN PATENTS France.

EARL J. WITMER, Primary Examiner. 

